Stephen Jose "Steve" Padilla

A loving husband, father, son, brother, and grandfather. Steve was a resident of Hollister, Ca his entire life, with small stints as a child growing up in San Juan Bautista.

Many people who knew him from a young age knew him for his boxing career, championing three state of California Golden Globe amateur championship titles, fighting and winning the Sugar Ray Leonard tournament in Madison Square Garden. His boxing legacy will go down in history as one of the greatest boxers to ever come out of the town of Hollister.

Steve served for the United States military for seven years as an Army Reserve infantry soldier and was given an honorable discharge after respectable and committed service.

After leaving the military and gaining a loving wife and his beloved Liz Padilla, he also gained a new father-in-law who guided him into the construction world, which led into his adult life. After years of learning to trade. Steve went on to open his own business, Pad's construction, serving his community and countless jobs from Hollister and throughout the Bay Area.

Steve enjoyed taking trips with his family, loved going to the beach, and always enjoyed riding his Harley Davidson with his brothers from the top Hatters. As a member of the top Hatter,s Steve gained a tremendous amount of respect from the other members and was a beloved brother to all of the friends and family members in the club.

After years of owning his own business, he moved into a role more self-serving with his knowledge of construction, but combined with his passion for helping others who have gone through tough times. Steve was a tough man, but a guiding light for many people he came across. He began working at Soledad state penitentiary and was able to utilize all of his life skills into a single occupation, which he did with pride until he was too sick to work.

Aside from all of the aforementioned life experiences, he could be prideful of, the thing he was most proud of was his family that he built. A beautiful and loving wife, Liz Padilla, and his two honorable sons, Stevie (Eva Padilla) and Anthony Padilla (Katherine Padilla). Steve is not only survived by his three beloved family members, but also by his three joys of his life: his grandchildren, Roman, Remi, and Kane. Steve loved his grandchildren more than life itself, and his legacy now lives on through them. Steve was a devout Christian who will now join his mother, Avelina "Honey" Padilla, his brother, Hector Jimenez, and his father-in-law, Ernie Neto Estrada, in the kingdom of heaven.

Steve will be missed by many and loved continuously by all who were blessed to cross his path.

Steve's services will be held at the church in San Juan Bautista Mission on Friday, January 30th, 2026 at 1:00 PM. We will hold a celebration of life at Ridgemark Golf and Country Club in Hollister. Please join us and remember Steve as we give him the well-deserved celebration of life.